The secret base Spetsotrad, located in the middle of a snowy mountain range.
A facility with the highest level of security, known only to a handful of people in all of Russia.
Inside the brigade commander's office.
A man called the Client leaned back into the sofa.
"Even a worm will turn when stepped on. I never expected Korea, that silent nation, to move like this."
"Same here."
Brigade Commander Vasilov shook his head.
"It seems they forgot their place just because their so-called Runners are doing well. We'll punish them thoroughly, so you needn't worry."
"Before that, you know what to do. Let's catch that traitor first."
"Of course."
Vasilov slammed his hand on the desk.
Valikits Roche Natalia.
To forget the grace of being fed and raised, and to bite the hand that fed her.
That was absolutely unforgivable.
"Even if we accept the loss of those who were taken care of, why is General Anastasia still out of contact?"
"All our lines in Poland were cut, so it's taking time to find out. Anyway... haah."
Vasilov pressed his forehead.
With the original plan disrupted, Operation Babel had failed spectacularly.
But he didn't take it too seriously.
It was just one of the countless operations they had carried out and would carry out in the future.
They could make up for it later.
However, General Anastasia's erratic behavior was a headache.
Not only had she left Babel without a word until things reached this point, but she wasn't even answering any calls.
"Surely..."
Vasilov, who had been puffing on his cigar, spoke cautiously.
"Nothing's gone wrong, has it?"
The Client let out a snicker.
"Gone wrong? The Flash of Anastasia? That's ridiculous."
It wasn't baseless faith.
Even without the stage Babel had set, the city was overflowing with lights.
As long as there was light, no one could catch Anastasia.
"It's not for nothing that we invested astronomical sums in her. The class she awakened is rare even among hidden classes. An ability truly optimized for enemy annihilation. There's no way a country like Korea could ever—"
"Brigade Commander!!"
The door burst open, and Alexei, who had been commanding the situation room, rushed in.
Vasilov and the Client turned their heads almost simultaneously.
Neither of them scolded him for entering without knocking.
Because it was the first time.
The always calm Alexei was that flustered.
"We've just made contact with Babel."
Swallowing dryly, Alexei took a breath.
"Major General Anastasia... is dead."
Silence fell over the brigade commander's office.
The Client tilted his head as he set down his teacup.
"What? Sergeant Alexei, are you sure you've got this right? You said you couldn't get a hold of her, and now suddenly she's dead?"
"There was a severely decomposed corpse in the hallway of Babel. It was rotted beyond recognition, so we ran a DNA test... and it came back as Major General Anastasia."
"Hey, you bastard!!"
Vasilov jumped to his feet and threw the cigar he was smoking.
"What kind of nonsense is that! How could Anastasia die!?"
Alexei bowed his head.
Even he, a hardened military veteran, couldn't answer that question.
Because he simply couldn't fathom it.
How could the Flash of Anastasia possibly die?
The Client, barely regaining his composure, spoke.
"Are you certain? I'm asking if you compared it against her entire body's DNA."
"Yes. We cross-referenced hair, teeth, and even skin tissue."
"Ha."
A sigh escaped his lips.
He had checked the situation inside Babel via camera right up until she boarded the train.
The only ones who could be considered enemies were Valikits Roche and Cheon Se-yeon.
Anastasia was a force that could handle them even if they both attacked at once.
Alexei, who was about to say more, furrowed his brow.
A report from the situation room came through his earpiece.
"Something's flying in? Report properly."
# It's not a missile or a shell. We've determined it's an object that doesn't need to be intercepted by the air defense system. It's about to fall here, so please verify immediately...
Before the report could even finish.
Flash!
A light surged outside the window.
In that instant, Alexei threw himself toward the Client and the Brigade Commander.
Alexei deployed a shield using his class ability.
Kwaaaaaaang!!!
A massive shockwave engulfed them.
An incredible explosive force that instantly obliterated the building they were in.
The entire ground shook, and an unbelievable roar pounded their eardrums.
How much time had passed?
As the vibrations subsided, Alexei lifted his head.
"...!"
His eyes widened at the devastating scene.
The point of impact of the unidentified explosive was far from here.
Yet the aftermath alone had completely blown away the headquarters building.
In his common sense, only a ballistic missile just below a nuclear warhead could do such a thing.
He raised his hand to his earpiece.
"Report from the situation room. Situation room!"
# Crackle... Th-this is the situation room!
"What's the damage?"
# Th-the hangar has been completely obliterated! All defensive measures, including the air defense system, are down! Damage assessment is impossible!
Brigade Commander Vasilov gritted his teeth and snatched the earpiece.
"A missile falls, and what the hell was the air defense system doing?!"
As the Brigade Commander roared, the Client, who had gotten to his feet, furrowed his brow.
This was impossible.
This place had the highest level of security and hadn't been exposed for over a decade.
And yet it had been hit.
Anastasia's death and the attack on Spetsotrad.
This was no coincidence.
...Rat-a-tat-tat... Rat-a-tat-tat.
"!?"
Without a word, they all raised their heads.
And listened.
An unidentified noise growing closer.
Alexei, the first to recognize it, ran outside.
It was the sound of helicopter rotors.
Something was coming.
* * *
Above the Spetsotrad base.
Since Black Wings' rules prevented me from joining the attack, I just greeted them.
"Thank you! I've deposited the cost of the bullets you saved me, too! See you again!"
After waving my hand, I jumped out of the helicopter.
A fierce blizzard pushed against my descending body.
If I didn't have status effect resistance, I would have been frozen solid in an instant.
'This is refreshing.'
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.
The thrilling, cold air seeped into my nose.
As expected, winter is better than summer.
"Commander! Are you sleeping?!"
I opened my eyes to Kancho, who had materialized in my arms.
"Eheh! Falling asleep during an operation!"
I pulled a heavy machine gun from my inventory and fixed it below me.
As if waiting, Kancho placed his fingers on the trigger.
"Yodel Ranger Deputy Commander Kancho! Bombardment ready!"
"Good, good."
With a smile, I surveyed the Russian special brigade, Spetsotrad, spread out below me.
Kancho had diligently launched the first strike from the hill and returned.
Thanks to him, crimson flames and smoke were rising from all over the base.
But this wasn't enough.
This was the place I was certain the Client of Crown Jackpot was located.
That bastard not only fired a missile at my home but also tried to kill Cheon Se-yeon at Babel.
I couldn't hold back without unleashing everything.
"Kancho."
"Yodel Ranger Deputy Commander Kancho!"
"Wipe them out."
"Roger that!"
Rat-a-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat!!!
A rain of bullets began to pour from the high sky.
Kwa-ga-ga-ga-ga-ga!!!
Explosions erupted everywhere, lighting up the dark sky.
"Puhehehehehe!!"
Kancho's characteristic mad laughter burst out.
I used to wonder what was so fun that he laughed like that every day, but seeing things from Kancho's perspective up here, I easily understood.
The recoil transmitted through his body with every shot, and the countless flowers of explosion blooming below my field of vision.
From the receiving end, they'd curse him as a psycho, but I couldn't deny it—it was incredibly beautiful.
Click-clack! Whisk!
It wasn't an exaggeration that I'd practiced airborne operations.
Even though I was holding him, this was a high-altitude area with a blizzard raging.
Yet Kancho, unfazed, skillfully swapped the ammunition belt.
Rat-a-tat-tat-tat!!
The hail of bullets began again.
I found myself shaking my head.
What could I say? From the perspective of the ones getting pounded, this was truly hopeless firepower.
After pouring out fire for a while, Kancho lifted his head.
"Commander! We're almost out!"
"Okay."
I put away the heavy machine gun and drew Ganjang and Makya.
Then, at the right timing, I released aura downward.
A blue-black aura that instantly shattered the ground and created a reaction force.
As the reaction force reached me, I used Hermes' Shoes to reduce my weight and landed on the snow as softly as a feather.
Clap, clap, clap, clap, clap.
As if waiting, Kancho clapped like a seal.
"Perfect! A hundred billion point landing!"
Not even out of a hundred, but a hundred billion points. That's incredibly generous.
It was probably the biggest number Kancho knew.
I gave him a thumbs-up and stroked his perked-up ears.
"Haaah."
My breath mixed with the snow and scattered finely.
This was truly the perfect weather for erasing something.
I slowly looked around.
Despite the heavy snowfall, the flames rising from all sides showed no sign of dying out.
And under the light cast by those flames.
My friends began to materialize there.
"Perfect."
Dark curled his lips.
It seemed he liked the battlefield because it was similar to Frostheim.
"Hm!?"
I quickly scanned the area.
Jambalaya Nia was nowhere to be seen.
She had definitely materialized?!
Then I spotted a tiny snowdrift.
Niaaaaa!
I quickly ran over, brushed off the piled snow, and pulled Nia out.
She seemed to have fallen asleep the moment she materialized.
"That Jambalaya, that's no good. Eat, sleep, eat, sleep, occasionally fight, and sleep again. She's almost like Momo."
Kancho clicked his tongue and shook his head.
It was a good thing Momo was busy making a campfire.
"Carmella."
Carmella blew out smoke and reached her hand toward the sky.
A translucent barrier spread out from her fingertips.
From now on, all entry and exit from this place would be reported to Carmella.
"Momo will be roasting sweet potatoes!"
"Oooh...!"
Nia, who had woken up belatedly, agreed with Momo, the roasted sweet potato vendor.
Roasted sweet potatoes in this blizzard? Excellent.
I gave them both a thumbs-up and then looked at Kancho.
"Blow away anything that approaches."
"Roger that!"
"Seira, north. Dark, east. Renya, south. I'll take west."
Since the base was large, I assigned each of them a sector and then took a step forward.
"Let's go."
Without a word, my friends pushed through the snow and advanced.
I drew both swords and slowly increased my speed.
The time had finally come to repay them.
For daring to fire a missile at my home.
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T/N:
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